Rafael Nadal Out of French Open With Wrist Injury

Rafael Nadal, the nine-time French Open champion, withdrew from the tournament on Friday because of a left wrist injury.

The announcement sent a shock wave through Roland Garros, where Nadal has won more singles titles than any other player. On Thursday, he advanced to the third round with a 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 victory over Facundo Bagnis of Argentina.


But Nadal, a left-hander, said he played that match only after receiving a painkilling injection in his left wrist, and he spoke at his news conference on Friday with the wrist in a blue brace.

“One of the toughest press conferences of my career,” said Nadal, who is 29 and was seeded fourth at this year’s French Open. “Having to pull out of the tournament that is the more important tournament of my career and at the same time a tournament I feel that if I am well I always have my chances.”

With Nadal’s withdrawal, his third-round opponent, Marcel Granollers, will advance to the fourth round, and Nadal’s withdrawal also could make the road to the title considerably less arduous for the No. 1 seed, Novak Djokovic, who has yet to win at Roland Garros and was in Nadal’s half of the draw this year.

Nadal’s career has often been interrupted by injuries, and he has experienced problems with his right wrist. But he said this injury, to his left wrist, was a new one. He said the trouble began in a quarterfinal victory on May 6 against João Sousa at the Madrid Open. Nadal lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray and said he used mesotherapy before that match to deaden the pain.

“Worked because I could play,” he said. “That was Saturday. On Sunday, I was in Barcelona. I traveled all the way to Barcelona to do all the tests, to check if I am able to play in Rome or not. So I went to Barcelona during Sunday in the morning. I spent all day there doing M.R.I. and echography and all the tests, and the doctor told me that there is nothing really bad.

“So I accept that, and I wanted to go to Rome, and I went to Rome. I played only with anti-inflammatories. So I could play well. I played three matches and was O.K. But when I come back to Mallorca I felt a little bit more. And as I say before, when I arrived here, every day is worse. I cannot play with my forehand.”

But Nadal, who has had a resurgent season on clay after struggling by his standards in 2015, said he decided to play in the French Open because he believed he could manage the problem. He said he received extensive treatment in Paris before and after his two early-round matches, but he said he took a painkilling injection in the wrist before facing Bagnis.

“I could play, but the thing is, yesterday night, I started to feel more and more pain,” he said. “And today in the morning, I feel that I could not move much the wrist.”

He said he underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan on the wrist and other medical tests. He said doctors advised him against continuing and told him that he risked a full tear if he did so. Nadal struggled to explain the precise nature of the injury in English on Friday, but said he believed the problem was “in the sheath of the tendon.” “To win the tournament I need five more matches, and the doctor says that’s 100 percent impossible,” Nadal said.